6 Financial Success Tips for Entrepreneurs

You are naturally driven by your passion for business and your product, but surely, money is on the mind; how do you manage to reach financial success? Financial success shouldn’t be looked at as a one-time goal, there’s no magic number for you to reach, but rather, it’s within your ongoing and steady operations. That’s not to say you shouldn’t set goals, but you should have a benchmark you’re consistently meeting.

As a veteran, you’ve been through the financial briefings, you’ve completed the TAPS course and planned for your retirement with a financial advisor. Thus far, you’ve dealt with stable paychecks and know when and how much you’ll be receiving. How do you ensure the same concept transfers over to your business? Here are five tips that will help you achieve financial success:

Goals & Budgeting for Financial Success

Setting goals is on the top of most business-related lists, and for good reason. You need a clear vision of what you’re working towards for yourself and for your team to stay motivated and on track. Financial goals are no different. How much do you want to save? What do you want to put money into – scaling, advertising, investments? And by when? These are questions you should be asking and outlining in your business plan.

Be sure to budget for this. Take all of your expenses into account and start from there. Look for ways to make cuts and stay lean. There are many budgeting apps out there to help simplify this and track your spending, which is crucial to your success.

It’s also recommended to separate your business and personal banking accounts. Be strict about this so you always have the correct numbers to report and your financial statements are clean. If your business is your main source of income, consider paying yourself a salary.

Limit fixed expenses

Limiting your fixed expenses is especially important in the early stages of your business. If you’re able to keep these expenses down, such as a smaller office space, you can invest in your growth instead of paying rent for office space you don’t really need now.

Perhaps, make your dream office space a long-term goal. Don’t get caught up in the fancy amenities, focus on your revenue growth.

Focus on customer acquisition

It may seem obvious, but customers are the key to your growth. Find out where your customers are and how to get them through the purchasing funnel as soon as possible. The greater success you have with this step, and the sooner you accomplish it, the better the chance of not only survival but financial success.

This does not mean you should test every possible channel, that’ll be counterproductive. Stick to those that have been proven to be lucrative in your industry.

Explore Investment opportunities

If you have the capital available, investing early on could pay off big time. Whether you’re more conservative or a risk-taker, there’s an opportunity out there for you. Here are some examples:

• Treasury Bills
• Certificates of Deposit
• Government Bonds
• Corporate Bonds
• Preferred Stock
• Common Stock

This article explains the investment and risk levels.

Keep planning for retirement

You likely already have your retirement planned, why not go bigger? Lay the groundwork in the early stages of your business. Set aside a different savings plan for your business retirement fund and let it grow. If you start a 401k match plan at your company, you can take advantage of that benefit as well.

Continue to Learn

Continuous learning is the key to successful entrepreneurship, and therefore, financial success. If you start approaching every new idea or experience as a beginner, you’re going to keep absorbing new information and expanding your creative methodology.

If you keep the mindset “I already know this” then you’re doing yourself, your business, and your employees a disservice. Be curious, identify role models, whether they’re in your industry or not, and follow their example. Dive deep and seek out new challenges.

What’s a common phrase you hear in the world of entrepreneurship? “It’s risky” comes to mind. Yes, there’s no doubting that, but you have all the resources at your disposal in order to mitigate those risks and plan for a financially successful business.